The purpose of the Pathology core is to facilitate research on human malignancies by members of the City of Hope Cancer Center. The core provides services primarily in the areas of expertise of the members of the Department of Anatomic Pathology and fall into the following areas: (1) Performance and assistance in routine histologic processing of tissues including paraffin embedding, sectioning and H&E staining of human tissue, animal tissue, and preparations from cell lines, as well as specialized histologic services such as preparation of multitumor blocks or tissue arrays to the specifications of the researchers. (2) Performance and interpretation of immunohistochemistry for the detection of cell products in normal and disease states, including evaluation and technical development of new antibodies and the technology to detect multiple antigens in the same histologic section. (3) Performance and assistance in Laser Capture microdissections from paraffin or frozen sections to obtain enrichment of specific cell types including isolation of malignant cells for analysis of proteins, RNA and/or DNA content. (4) Performance and assistance in preparing formalin-fixed tissues for conventional PCR including RT-PCR. (5) Prospective distribution of fresh tumor and normal (control) tissue samples, from discard surgical and autopsy materials. (6) Banking of snap-frozen tumor and normal tissue samples to meet anticipated demands. (7) Consultation services to Cancer Center basic scientists. Expertise in the pathologic basis of disease, the histologic manifestations of disease, and in the use of human tissue for studying disease states is available for preparation of grants and papers and in the design of experiments. The work performed by the core facility for Cancer Center members has resulted in the publications of over 60 articles in peer-reviewed journals. Peer-reviewed usage of this core by Cancer Center members is 36.6% of the total usage.